Sex offender found in Richmond County Jail
By Elizabeth Billips lizbillips@yahoo.com

An absconded sex offender was returned to Burke County Monday after Richmond County deputies picked him up on unrelated charges.

Patrick Wayne Coker, 29, was extradited and arrested on a felony charge of failure to register as a sex offender.

According to Sgt. Annette Hodge, deputies had been searching for him since March 17 when he failed to show up for routine registration.

"When Richmond County ran him, he came back as wanted," Sgt. Hodge said.

Coker has been on the state registry since 2003 when he was convicted of sexual battery with a minor. Georgia law requires that sex offenders notify authorities of any residency change within 72 hours and that they reregister every year, three days prior to their birthdays.